Wednesday Morning Coffee: State college faculty put off strike.

Good Wednesday Morning, Fellow Seekers.
There's some good news and bad news for students at Pennsylvania's 14 state-owned
universities this morning.

The good news is that faculty members at the schools won't consider striking until the spring semester -- all the better to spare students from any disruptions during the end-of-term academic crunch, the Associated Press reports this morning.

The bad news is that faculty won't consider striking until the spring semester, so if you're a student and you'd been putting off reading The Big Important Book that determines half your grade in hopes that finals would be scuttled by a strike, you'd better get to it. The clock is ticking, kids.

In an open letter that sounded suspiciously like it was written by your mom, union leaders at the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculty told students that we "know you are concerned about the impact a strike would have on your classes, your finals, and your tuition dollars."

We here at Capitol Ideas World HQ also know that a strike would play havoc with planning for Christmas parties and winter carnivals across the 14 campuses, so we feel you on that one, too, students.

In a statement that danced right up to the edge of patting faculty on the head without going over it, state System Spokesman Kenn Marshall told the AP that "It is certainly good news for our students that the faculty union has chosen not to disrupt the fall semester by going on strike."

"But we still need to reach a resolution that is fair to everyone, especially to our students," Marshall added, underlining the actual stakes of the debate.

In their statement, the faculty union called a strike a "last resort."

And speaking of resorts, if faculty do walk out during the spring semester, may we recommend any of the fines Beaches Resorts of the Carribean? They'd be a fine place to ride out a strike in March or April.

The rest of today's news, which is mostly absent of suggestions of how students can shirk their academic responsibilities, starts after the jump.

If State Lawmakers ...
... were looking for Gov. Tom Corbett to take the lead on resolving Pennsylvania's looming public pensions crisis, they're in for a long wait.
An administration spokeswoman tells the Tribune-Review that it'll be up to lawmakers and other stakeholders to come up with a way to address a $41 billion unfunded liability in the pension funds.
“As far as we’re concerned, the next step is concerted work with the Legislature and other stakeholders to develop concrete ways that we can address the pension issue in Pennsylvania. … We cannot develop solutions in a vacuum,” spokeswoman Christine Cronkright said.Jerry Shuster, a political communications professor at the University of Pittsburgh, tells the Trib that it's not surprising that Corbett is approaching the issue gingerly even though Republicans control the governor’s office and both chambers of the Legislature.
“This is one time where being in the majority is a disadvantage. I think the Democrats are going to sit back and say, ‘Let the governor make a proposal, and we’ll see how it works out,’” he said.
This should make the spring incredibly amusing.

State Education Secretary Ron Tomalis ...
... says the agency will seek a waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind Law, which calls for all students to test proficient in reading and math on annual state achievement exams by 2014, the PG reports this morning.
Tomalis had long resisted applying for a waiver, which was made available by the Obama administration in September 2011 when it became apparent that Congress would not be able to agree on a reauthorization of NCLB before the 2014 deadline, the PG reports.

So Guess Who ...
... will be front and center on the debate on the Fiscal Cliff? If you guessed U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., you'd be correct.According to a secret plan that we totally made up just now, the Scranton Democrat has been instructed by the White House to lull opposition lawmakers into a peaceful sleep with his voice and then resolve The Cliff while they nap like babies. As nefarious plans go, it may be the most adorable one we've heard so far.

As The State Senate ...
... moved to formally ban political activity on the taxpayers' dime in spring 2010, former Senate Minority Leader Bob Mellow told two staffers to handle a $12,000 campaign check as part of their Senate duties, the Times-Tribune of Scranton reports.
The incident is referred to in a memo filed by federal prosecutors seeking a two-year prison sentence for Mellow, who is due to be sentenced in U.S. District court on Friday.

A Special Task Force ...
... charged with reviewing and recommending changes to Pennsylvania's child protection law called Tuesday for expanding the definition of child abuse and the list of those required to report it.
The 11-member Pennsylvania Task Force on Child Protection voted unanimously to adopt a catalog of recommended reforms as a starting point for a continuing conversation on efforts to protect children.
"This needs to be an ongoing dialogue," said the panel's chairman, Bucks County District Attorney David W. Heckler. "This isn't something that's going to be accomplished in six months."

Former DEP Secretary John Hanger ...
... formally launches his Democratic bid for governor today with events in Philadelphia and Harrisburg. He'll hold an event in Pittsburgh tomorrow. The build-up is just killing us. It's like the teaser trailers for Dark Knight or something. It feels like the movie should have been in theaters months ago.

In Case You Missed It ...
... here's Gov. Tom Corbett on Fox Business talking about the Fiscal Cliff.
Have we mentioned how much we love the YouTubes?

What Goes On.The Select Committee on Soliders' Grove (Yes, that's a thing) holds a 10 a.m. meeting in Room 18 of the Capitol's East Wing today.